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Shopper's Bazaar
Shopper's Bazaar was the first attempt at Wheel of Fortune. Merv didn't like it, NBC boss Lin Bolen didn't like it, and the test audiences didn't like it. Put simply, it didn't work. Gameplay In its most basic essentials, Bazaar has elements of what became Wheel, except for the following: The Wheel The wheel was stand-up vertical and motorized. It stopped with a press of a button, and the contestants would yell "Stop the wheel!" causing the wheel to slow down and come to a full stop. This wheel had no Bankrupts, but two (later four) Lose A Turn wedges. There were also two $0 spaces (meaning that even though you'd keep your turn, you don't score for that consonant), Free Vowel (as opposed to Buy A Vowel which was also there, today you'd only get a free vowel by landing on Free Play), and Your Own Clue (the contestant who landed on it would get a private clue by phone, the first of which was the category). SBZR 02.PNG|The much-too-glittery stand-up wheel. There were no "special" spaces shown in the intro. SB 04.PNG|The "Free Vowel" space, a semi-precursor to the "Free Play" space on Wheel. SB 05.PNG|The $0 space. SB 06.PNG|The "Free Spin" space. SB 07.PNG|The "Lose a Turn" space. Turns are technically the only things that could be "lost" on Shoppers Bazaar. SB 08.PNG|The weird "Your Own Clue" space. SB 09.PNG|Calling for help. The Puzzle Board The puzzle board was brown with 45 spaces divided into three rows, with the letters revealed by pull-cards. A fourth row of 15 spaces was used for letters that were called but not in the puzzle, as opposed to having an offscreen Used Letter Board. SBZR 05.PNG|60 - count 'em - 60 spaces on this board. SBZR 01.PNG|What's that "T" doing down there? Well, that's where discarded letters go. SB 03.PNG|Who is that behind the puzzle board? Scoring Scoring was handled by the Accounting Department, a wall that contained each contestant's three prizes. Each player kept their money from round to round, but prizes could only be won through solving a puzzle. Once the bottom prize on the list was "paid for", that player began working on the next prize. Shopper's Bazaar Accounting Department.png|The confusing "Accounting Department" board. Confusing, even for 1973. SB 02.PNG|A closeup. Dawn has acquired $1,350 so far, so she meets the requirements in order to win the appliances. She only needs $900 and to solve a puzzle in order to win the motorcycles. Bonus Round (Shopper's Special) The winner of the game (the one who had won the most prizes as opposed to scoring the most money) played this round where she had 30 seconds to call one correct consonant after seeing all the vowels in the puzzle. The solution was the prize she was playing for (in this case, ISLE OF CAPRI), and solving the puzzle won said prize. A better Bonus Round was used briefly in 1975-76 and 1978, but did not become permanent until late 1981. Music * Main - "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" * Commercial - "Spinning Wheel" Other Pictures SBZR 03.PNG|It's one of those "living room" sets! SB 01.PNG|Ready to play. YouTube Videos Long Intro to the Shopper's Bazaar Pilot The Full Pilot Episode to the Show Category:Non-Broadcast Pilots Category:Word Games Category:Puzzle